2008 St. John’s Basketball Picks & Predictions
Despite St. John’s 11-19 overall record and 5-13 in the Big East, no postseason appearance in the last five seasons, and no winning record in league play since 2002, head coach Norm Roberts was given a five-year extension in the spring. Roberts’ Red Storm roster last season featured eight freshmen, so this team should have more experience and Anthony Mason, Jr. should be healthy again this season. This season’s roster should have more versatility and depth than Roberts has had since coming to the Red Storm five years ago, so there is at least some reason to be optimistic. Keep reading our college basketball predictions to see if we think Norm Roberts will finally lead the Red Storm to the postseason and a winning league record. Check out BetUS where St. John’s is at +5000 odds to win the Big East Conference this season.
Anthony Mason is a gifted athlete who had consecutive 29-point games against Pittsburgh and Louisville in January, but missed eight games and was slowed in at least eight more by a nagging ankle injury. Mason led the team with 14.0 points last season, but the offense ranked 293rd nationally. Justin Burrell, a sophomore forward who averaged 10.8 points and a team leading 5.9 rebounds per game, joins Mason to give the Red Storm a solid foundation up front. Burrell is up to 235-pounds, which hints that he should be even better this season. Swingman D.J. Kennedy will need to do more after averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds as a freshman. Rob Thomas is expected to be much improved this season after appearing in only 16 games as a freshman. St. John’s will take a center-by-committee approach with Dele Coker, Tomas Jasiulionis, and Phil Wait all getting time.
TyShawn Edmondson and Quincy Roberts, both freshmen, were brought in to fill major voids at the guard position and will have the opportunity to make an immediate impact. Edmondson is more of a point guard while Roberts is more of a combo guard, and both are good athletes that can score. Malik Boothe and Paris Horne both saw action last season as freshman and will have an experience edge, which could get them solid minutes if the freshmen aren’t ready early.
Final Analysis
The Red Storm should be competitive in the Big East, mainly because there youth last season is a year older and more experienced, but in a grinding conference like the Big East it hurts to have scoring issues and turnover problems. Anthony Mason’s return is a huge lift, but returning much of the same roster that averaged only 62.1 points per game last year will make it difficult to lift them much higher. St. John’s will look to two freshmen to change the team’s practically non-existent scoring, which is a stretch. In a conference that is loaded with this much talent, simply put the Red Storm are on the outside looking in. With our NCAA basketball picks we have the St. John’s Red Storm finishing near the bottom of the Big East and missing out on the postseason for yet another year. BetUS has St. John’s at 250-to-1 odds to win an NCAA Championship, but since we don’t have them making the NCAA tournament, that isn’t a bet we’d take with our college basketball betting.
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